King Solomon reigned in Jerusalem and over all of Israel for forty years and then his son, Rehoboam took the throne. Even though Solomon wrote many writings of wisdom and was known as one of the wisest of all kings he still was not perfect and made mistakes. He had turned out to not be such a wise king and had made it extremely hard on the people under his rule.
The people were courageous and sought to speak with the new king, Rehoboam and see if he would ease up on them. 1 Kings 12:4 says, “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” This seems like a reasonable request.
Hopefully you have never had to work for a job/company and the boss makes things worse rather than better. Most would be loyal to and continue to work for a “good boss” but when the employees are taken advantage of and treated badly the employees typically will find their first opportunity to leave. Niceness can go a long way.
Rehoboam did as kings would do and consulted the elders. The ones who had worked with his father and knew the ins and outs of the kingdom and what would make the people more loyal. They advised him to lessen the load and to not be like his father. Verse 7 records the great advice given, “If you will be a servant to these people today and serve them, and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
However, Rehoboam did not heed their advice, but rather thought he would go talk to his peers and seek their advice on how to be a king. The young men who had grown up with him advised him to step it up a notch from what his father did. They in their young, foolish wisdom encouraged him to make it even harder on the people and so he did, which made it harder upon the people and consequences were a result.
We need to be cautious of what counsel we seek out. Growing up we often think our peers know more than the adults in our life; but often when we take our peers advice things get worse. Seek out godly counsel from those who have experienced life and overcame their own challenges. When it is within your power to do so, be kind and live at peace with others and life will be better for all involved.
~ TRS 8-15-21 Originally published in The Wayne Weekly
Rays of Hope 